2015-03-31T18:05:14ZDe-centering the text: Exploring the potential for visual methods in the sociology of foodhttp://hdl.handle.net/1974/1226
Title: De-centering the text: Exploring the potential for visual methods in the sociology of food
Authors: Power, Elaine
Abstract: In our culture, the image has become more powerful than the word, and perhaps more than ever, both social agents and social researchers “know more than we can say” in words. Yet sociological knowledge production and representation remain firmly rooted in text. In this paper, I argue that visual methods, such as film, photography and video, can expand knowledge production in the study of food and society, and represent that knowledge more richly and forcefully. In their capacities to evoke the sensual, non-rational, and material aspects of life, visual methods are well suited to the study of a subject such as food, which encompasses social processes from the embodied and tacit experiences of preparing and consuming food, to complex global configurations of power. I begin with the limitations of logo-centric sociology. Concentrating on photography, I move to a brief history of this method in sociology and discuss epistemological issues related to the contemporary post-foundationalist practice of visual sociology. Finally, I turn to a discussion of three main types of visual research activities: producing visual images; collaborating with research participants to produce visual images; and examining pre-existing images.2002-01-01T05:00:00ZInterpersonal economic abuse and intra-household inequities in food securityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1974/1225
Title: Interpersonal economic abuse and intra-household inequities in food security
Authors: Power, Elaine
Abstract: Food insecurity affected over 2.3 million Canadians in 2004. To date, the food security literature has not considered the potential impact of economic abuse on food security, but there are three ways that these two important public health issues may be related: (1) victims of economic abuse are at risk of food insecurity when they are denied access to adequate financial resources; (2) the conditions that give rise to food insecurity may also precipitate intimate partner violence in all its forms; (3) women who leave economically abusive intimate heterosexual relationships are more likely to live in poverty and thus are at risk of food insecurity. This paper presents a case of one woman who spontaneously reported heterosexual interpersonal violence, including economic abuse, during a qualitative research interview. The economic abuse suffered by this participant appears to have affected her food security and that of her children, while her husband’s was apparently unaffected. There is an urgent need to better understand the nature of intra-household food distribution in food insecure households and the impact of economic abuse on its victims’ food security. Such an understanding may lead to improved food security measurement tools and social policies to ameliorate food insecurity.
Description: "Reproduced with permission of the Canadian Public Health Association. Originally published in CJPH
Power, E. M. (2006). Interpersonal economic abuse and intra-household inequities in food security. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 97(3), 258-260."2006-01-01T05:00:00ZConceptualizing food security for Aboriginal people in Canadahttp://hdl.handle.net/1974/1224
Title: Conceptualizing food security for Aboriginal people in Canada
Authors: Power, Elaine
Abstract: Food insecurity is an urgent public health issue for Aboriginal people in Canada because of high rates of poverty; the effects of global climate change and environmental pollution on traditional food systems; and high rates of diet-related diseases. However, to date, public health has operated with conceptualizations of food security that were developed in non-Aboriginal contexts; they do not take full account of the traditional food practices of Aboriginal people or Aboriginal conceptualizations of food security. In this paper, I argue that there are unique food security considerations for Aboriginal people related to the harvesting, sharing and consumption of country or traditional foods, which impact the four pillars of food security: access, availability, supply and utilization. Thus food security conceptualizations, policies, and programs for Aboriginal people must consider both the market food system and traditional food system. Given the centrality of traditional food practices to cultural health and survival, I propose that cultural food security is an additional level of food security beyond individual, household and community levels. Conceptualizations of food security for Aboriginal people will be incomplete without qualitative research to understand Aboriginal perspectives; such research must take account of the diversity of Aboriginal people.
Description: "Reproduced with permission of the Canadian Public Health Association. Originally published in CJPH
Power, E. M. (2008). Conceptualizing food security for Aboriginal people in Canada. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 99(2), 95-97."2008-01-01T05:00:00ZTHE DETERMINANTS OF HEALTHY EATING AMONG LOW-INCOME CANADIANShttp://hdl.handle.net/1974/1223
Title: THE DETERMINANTS OF HEALTHY EATING AMONG LOW-INCOME CANADIANS
Authors: Power, Elaine
Abstract: This paper outlines the state of knowledge regarding the determinants of healthy eating among low-income Canadians, as well as gaps in that knowledge. It focuses on income and social class, the first of twelve determinants of health identified in Health Canada’s model of population health. Its orientation is sociological, drawing in particular on the work of French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, to understand both the economic and socio-cultural determinants of healthy eating for low-income Canadians.
Description: This scoping paper on the state of knowledge regarding the determinants of healthy eating for low-income Canadians was commissioned by the Office of Nutrition Policy and Promotion, Health Canada. It is one of a series of papers regarding the determinants of healthy eating. For published, short versions of the series of papers, please see the special issue of the Canadian Journal of Public Health, volume 96, supplement 3, "Understanding the Forces that Influence Our Eating Habits: What We Know and Need to Know"2008-05-30T17:57:18Z